Where’s the Cheese?

Peter Farago
LABOR’S candidate for Corangamite has committed to move to the electorate if he wins the election.
Darren Cheeseman promised to leave Ballarat after incumbent Liberal MP Stewart McArthur said the Labor candidate’s support in Corangamite was so limited he was relying on Melbourne based union members to sell his message to voters.
Mr McArthur said Mr Cheeseman had failed to excite the passions of local Labor supporters.
“The Labor and trade union campaign in Corangamite is a sham being run by outsiders,” Mr McArthur said.
“Because Labor’s candidate is from Ballarat and doesn’t know our local communities and local people, (he) is struggling to find local campaign workers and needs to ship in trade unionists and Labor apparatchiks from safe Labor seats in Melbourne.
“Several of the union campaigners who have been handing out pamphlets in Corangamite have freely admitted that they are from Melbourne’s western suburbs, work for unions and have been told to come down to Corangamite.
“The Labor candidate should disclose exactly who is participating in the Labor and union campaign teams, where they come from and what hidden policy agendas they are supporting.”
But Mr Cheeseman said his campaign was eliciting strong support from Labor members and voters.
“My campaign is made up of local working families and we’ve been door knocking for quite some time,” he said.
“Yes, I’ve got some friends that have come down to doorknock.”
Mr Cheeseman said “hundreds” of families had agreed to display garden signs, participate in letterbox drops and work at polling booths.
He estimated his campaign had door-knocked 12,000 homes.
“I think if you drive around any of the suburbs of Geelong you’ll see lots of evidence of my campaign.”
Mr Cheeseman said he was living parttime at Drysdale during the election campaign.
“My commitment is to move into the electorate depending on the outcome of the election,” he said.
Mr Cheeseman pointed out that his opponent’s address was also outside the electorate, near Camperdown.
“It’s a bit rich that Stewart McArthur has lived outside the electorate for 15 years.”